TTC: Pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 7

[ChoccyPud]

A positive thread for all those diagnosed with High or Very High NK Cells and looking to start TTC or already pregnant on Prednisolone and/or Intralipid treatment.

Newcomers very much welcome!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1419032-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-6

Part 5 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1391787-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-5

Part 4 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1366323-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-4

Part 3 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1348773-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-3

Part 2 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1323594-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-2

Part 1 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1236324-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar

euro I'm sorry to hear IUI didn't work, and fingers crossed for IVF being successful!

in a rush, just for a change, but wanted to say welcome to gransol and thanks to helterskelter for sharing the great blog.

thanks again to free for updating our list. I managed to turn DS a bit with inversions, moxa and accupuncture only to have him swivel back into footling breech, but it's definitely worth a go! It was my odd shaped uterus which meant that he kept on pinging back into the wrong place. Doing handstands in your local swimming pool at 8 mths pregnant is also a guaranteed crowd-pleaser (though you will get a few knowing looks from other women who twig what you are trying to do).

Hope the rest of your day keeps on track coconut, great to hear from you.

Scooter if you are around - how are you doing? I think it must be about testing time if I remember/have got my dates right?

euro sorry to hear that this round didn't work. I know IVF is a really big deal for you (as indeed it is for anyone) but that you've had to work extra hard to get your head around it. What sort of timing are you looking at?

frozen have you had any more scans? How is everything going with you and merc?

Just harking back to a couple of things from last week - thank you v. much for the link re NHS guidelines and sushi - was it sue? I checked and both Itsu and my local sushi man use fresh fish so no good for me (but i can have his cooked salmon and tuna sushi). Though i have seen on other threads (eg the Oct antenatal thread that I am resolutely not joining) that people have completely misinterpreted this guidance and think that all sushi in the UK is automatically safe as it is always frozen. Am having to resist wading in.

in re peas - I double checked my book Euro and the studies seem to have focused on men c.f. women - their sperm count can drop by around 50% on a high pea diet. the book doesn't reference the studies which is annoying but I can give more detail from the book if anyone needs to convince their DP/DH!

duggs am enthralled with your recent research, thanks so much for sharing and do keep us updated. The woman you saw at ZW is who I've met; I'm glad you liked her.

I think I may need a bit of a stern talking too; have been acting like a bit of a weirdo and can't help it - went to pregnancy pilates at the weekend and glared at all the pregnant women who I thought were being smug and ungrateful and didn't appreciate how luckily they were as they sat there complaining about the heat. Which is really mean of me as for all I know they took 10 years and all sorts of intervention to get pregnant. I knew a couple of women there from my running club and couldn't even bring myself to stay and chat as I hate talking about being pregnant and don't want people to congratulate me. Getting a bit ridiculous as I do have a bit of a bump (and my boobs have gone from B => DD) but I am not telling anyone I run into on the street or at work.

I have a scan at the prem clinic on Wednesday so that might make me feel at bit better - at the moment I can't feel any movement and don't have any sickness or anything so as far as I am concerned I am just fat, not pregnant!

Sorry about all that, better head off and pick up DS from grandparents and hopefully miss the thunderstorm that's heading our way.

Big hello and wave / hug to everyone else that I've missed. xx

sorry, how are you today pebbles?

Euro so sorry for your news, I was hoping this wld be yr month. If its any reassurance from a purely physical, drug taking and being prodded and poked perspective I've personally not found a huge difference btw super ov and IVF. And it is really helpful to know what fertilization rates are like. I know that's not all you were thinking about, but still. X

Thanks Arian.

PQ if all is well with the clinic, I would start downregging in 3 weeks. I just called to check I could start this cycle and they need to call me back because they haven't got their licence back yet after the move! Hopefully it will all be sorted out in time. It would be annoying if I finally get my head about it only to find I can't do it because the clinic isn't ready! This is now cycle 20 for me with absolutely sweet FA to show for it, so I think the repeated failures have made me resign myself to it.

I am sorry you are having a hard time accepting the fact that you are pregnant. It must be so hard in your situtation.

PQ, I have similar intolerance to people moaning about the ordeals of being pregnant. Thing is, there are ordeals and I remember in the early days (first 3 pregnancies) complaining bitterly about my morning sickness, tiredness, lack of ability to travel far without needing a wee etc. But when you'd give your eye teeth for those to be the sole things to complain about during pregnancy it is galling to hear others complain.

PQ I love your comment on doing handstands in the local pool

I just put a call out to meet up for a group drink with a group of 5 friends I haven't seen for about a year. One of them replied that she wasn't up to traveling up to town on the tube and sitting in a pub because she was heavily pregnant. She said we were more than welcome to meet her somewhere in South London. Which would be fine under any other circumstances. The crazy thing is, I've had to put off meeting up with her before a few years ago when she was pregnant and I had just had a termination. I feel a bit weird making that excuse again. I can probably cope with the physical side of meeting her whilst pregnant but the two guys I'd also arranged to meet up with both have 2 kids and they will go on about kids and babies etc. between them. That's the hardest bit. I haven't answered the message yet. Not sure what to do.

euro, sorry to hear the IUI didn't work again. I'm sure frustration doesn't begin to cover it. When will you start your IVF?

coconut, some people are clueless about other's feelings aren't they? Unbelievable! I think that there are some people that can't see past the end of their own noses sometimes. Pregnancy (in those who've never experienced any problems) and weddings bring this out particularly badly.

kittens I just realised I never replied to your test results. I know you've seen it all before, but don't give up hope - your results may not be as good as could be wished, but they're also not impossible odds. When do you have your consultation with Mr S? If I'm not giving up just yet, with my FSH being higher than yours, then you mustn't either :) Actually no, I'm not telling you what to do, of course!, but just wanted to say all isn't lost. It isn't that you have no decent quality eggs left, just means you have less than say 20 years ago. I know the clock is ticking, god don't I know it, but there's still hope. Will you think of the IVF route, do you think?

I know what you all mean about the difficulties being around pregnant people. I am currently in the situation where my ex-stepdaughter - 19, on benefits, got a psychological disorder that means she will almost certainly hurt any child she has - is now 21 weeks pregnant, after having had 3 miscarriages. And she keeps texting and phoning me for advice. So I have the double problem with first having the extreme gut instinct that she should never have a baby, I truly fear for its safety (long story, but very valid fear, and one equally shared by her father), and of course the struggle of my own inability to have a baby. Being who and what she is, she isn't at all bothered by her continual questions and complaints about the trials of being pregnant (she knows about my miscarriages), and got offended because I didn't want her to text me pictures of her scans. At my DD's school I am surrounded by women with babies, or having just had babies, or being pregnant.

I don't know what the answer is; my gut wrenches if I hear a baby cry in a shop or in the street, and to be honest even looking at my own DD's baby pictures hurts, as I just feel the possibility of having that chance again is so very remote now. I know I am so very blessed to have my DD, but that doesn't make it easier.

Where's that cocoon house when we need it?! kittens I hope you find an acceptable answer to your meet-up dilemma. And for all those who have equally impossible situations, I wish you all the strength to deal with them.

kittens I start downregging in 20 days. (If I don't have another wobble before then!)

Arian baby distribution is just so unfair, isn't it? That sounds like a very tough situation for you to deal with.

PQ is that the pilates class you sent me to? I really enjoyed it but have only been back there once in the last few weeks. I just seem to have too much else to do. Maybe I should get back there now for a few weeks. Oh, will it make you feel better to have another recurrent miscarrier in there with you...? And yes, you never know what some of those people have been through. And what they might also go through in the future, they they are happily ignorant about now. But agreed, it is weird watching people happily assume everything is all going right. I should come along with you next time and we can freak everyone out with talk of recurrent miscarriages and hard core drug taking :)

Ari that sounds like a right mess with your ex SD. I guess she is also not very sensitive to the situation you are in, being very young and also having issues as it were. Sorry you go through that gut wrenching thing, especially when you look at photos of DD as a baby. I think secondary fertility/miscarriage issues are really hard for people to understand from the outside - perhaps harder than people understanding primary issues where people haven't had a child yet.

Like your situation the other day Coconut, how awful for your friend. Hope you're getting on ok though! Are you up and out of the house already naive childbirth newbie here ?

To add to your situation with the friends Kittens - also it might be a bit boring if people are going on about their DCs all the time! I am sure we all have a variety of friends who are mothers and I much prefer hanging out with the ones who can forget they are mothers for a bit and chat about everything else in the world! Isn't that what people have 'mummy friends' for...? You never know though, they might surprise you and you might have a good night out with them all.

Sorry the IUI didn't work out Euro and I hope you're going to the IVF with a level of hope and positivity. It is understandably all very stressful. Really hope it works out for you. Hope experiences like CareBear's and helterskelter's help you feel ok about IVF.

I hope you all don't think I am being insensitive to Pebbles by not mentioning her! We are texting each other all the time instead. It's like the days when we used to pass notes in class but the topics are more life-changing of course.

I am already thinking about IVF. The NHS fertility lady strongly recommended that I get on with it soon. They say if SO is to work it usually does on cycle 4 or 5, and this next one will be my 4th, so we'll see how that goes and also what Mr S says at my appt. I'm estimating it will be around 22 June for my next midcycle scan.

I was just wondering what drugs are used for IVF as I am already going to be using Gonal F, Tamoxifen and Ovitrelle.

For the last 3 years I've been told my best chance is IVF with DE but I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I'd really want my child (if there ever is such a thing) to have my genes.

kittens there are various drug combos they use. Mine is burselin (sp?) for downregging, then gonal-f for stimming and then ovitrille to make the eggs mature. I've only had the ovitrille out of that bunch before.

I feel the same about donor egg/sperm. My urge to have a child definitely doesn't come from my head or my heart. It comes from some ancient genes that are screaming at me to reproduce them. I might change my mind of course, but for now I couldn't contemplate trying for a child that would not be genetically mine.

Hi ladies . . euro and kittens the ivf isn't so bad it is the fekkin immunology that goes with it that makes it tougher. Compared to months and years of being on this dr s plan u can do it.

I unfortunately got another test result thru today. My theory was incorrect as I needed to look at the blocking anti bodies as a whole. I seem to be fine. The nk cells seem to be fine. The every bloody test seems to be fine and I don't know why I can't grow a baby.

SO bloody frustrating.
Not sure where to go from here as I really thought i'd found something.

What happens to us ttc bunch who r here for ages. Do we just dry up ?

duggs Why not ask the question of Dr G? Are there any test results still left to come? How about the hidden C etc? I understand that can cause miscarriages? There has to be something since you already know you had 2 perfect embryos put back, you know it's not your eggs at fault so there must be another reason somewhere? I'm sorry this is all so frustrating but hang in there, there has to be a reason!

Hi ari yes still hidden c and sperm DNA fragmentation test to come back so will be interesting to hear his suggestion. Thank you. How r u feeling? When r u seeing dr s?

hi everyone ,
got back to the uk on sun, back to reality now !!
there is tons to catch up with, i tried keeping up while i was in oz but i couldnt remember my log in ! its saved on this computer thank god.

i had a lovely relaxing time , woke up at 5am this morining , still a bit on syd time i think.

health wise this mth is the first my cycle has been normal in all depts, fluid,ovulation and 26 day cycle, last mth i was too early even though i ovulated , my joints/muscles have improved but are still sore, esp if a do too much waalking , think i had better go back for them to investigate further.

spoke to mw at st heliers and asked if could go on steriods at bfp, has anyone been told they could do this ?

hasnt the weather been lovely !!!

coconut,comedy and iggy
im so thrilled for you!!! congratulations !

kittens its fustrating i know!! just thinking about getting back on this rollercoaster makes me feel like throwing up! i know we all feel like some times just screaming and screaming so we can let some of what we are feeling out, guess this website is the second best thing and slightly less scary to everyone around us , maynot be some to try on the tube!! or not just to see everyones reaaction, we have to get our laughs where we can!

pebbles im so sorry about cp, i hope you are feeling as good as poss considering .

pico Welcome back, glad you had a good time on hols, and nice to come back to sunshine! :)

duggs I'm ok thanks, still wondering if I'm not flogging a dead horse as it were. I'm trying to get an appointment with Dr G at the moment, but it seems (if I understand the person who's replying to my emails) that he isn't a Cigna-approved consultant so I've been told I would have to pay a consulting fee to see him and then see his colleague Dr Eskander to get the testing. I assume he is Cigna-approved. I've also been told I have to have a referral letter, which I'm a bit confused about as I thought you could self-refer (at least, that's the advice I've seen on other forums). It's certainly not as clear-cut as arranging an appointment with Mr S if you're using medical insurance, it seems :(

pebbles How are you doing today?

Duggs sorry to hear your test results have not given you the answers you were looking for. Try to look at it in a positive way that maybe it has just been bad luck for you each time and that persistance will eventually prevail. When I had my hysteroscopy I cant remember if I posted that I was chatting to one of the nurses and she had 6 miscarriages and then went on to have 3 kids naturally. They couldn't find a reason for the losses so it was all put down to bad luck. I guess with IVF, even with CGH it's not guaranteed even though they have checked the eggs. Otherwise there would be no childless couples in the world eventually. The consultant at my hysteroscopy said that they reckon they only know around 50% of the reasons why we miscarry so it's still early days in the research field even though there are so many treatments available now compared to years ago. Don't give up hope, you can keep trying whilst you go down the adoption route. I still think you will get there eventually if you keep doing what you are doing, you still have time on your side. When you think about it, you only started the 'proper treatment' with Mr S last September so it's not that long (thats what I keep telling myself). It makes it seem longer because of all the time beforehand. Louise told me that if my pregnancy fails this time they will try new drugs on me so I think Mr S is constantly looking at other things to try, I just hope he gets the right concoction for all of us soon!

Euro glad you have come to terms with IVF, I like to think its just a helping hand in the process so try not to overthink it too much. I have so many friends who have IVF babies and it really is no difference.

Pico nice to have you back - hope you had a nice break and are ready to start back on the rollercoaster again. My last cycle was back to normal too and then I got my BFP so it all looks positive for you! I was on steroids from OV not BFP but again it depends on how high your NK levels are (mine are V high).

Pebbles how are you honey? I hope you are climbing back up and not letting this setback drag you down. As I keep saying, I think the ones who give up are the ones who don't end up with their take home baby.

Kittens I agree with you about having your own genetic child but then I guess eventually if you cant have one a DE one will be the next best thing. Sounds awful to say it as it sounds like a consolation prize but then that baby wouldnt be alive if you hadn't have carried it etc. Problem is with our killer cells, I dont know if donor eggs would work as our bodies might reject them. My friend keeps telling me she would surrogate for me with my eggs but I think I would treat the baby differently to DD.

Free did you have your scan yet?

I did another test today (paranoid or what) and the pregnancy is still there with a good strong line. I had already started bleeding by now with my 2 chemicals so I feel like I am over that hurdle anyway. The days are dragging for me so trying to keep busy. I still don't want to go on the first trimester list though until I have my first scan as I won't believe it until then. I am convinced something will go wrong but I guess that is to be expected. Sorry to all the TTC ladies as I know you would rather be in my position but if I cant have a worry on here, where can I?

Waves to everyone else!

Welcome back pico.

sue, yes, the immunity issue was also on my mind with regards to DE. The stakes get higher and higher!

Fingers crossed for you sue. Even though I've not had a BFP for over a year and a half now I do understand all too well the anxiety that follows a BFP, especially in our position. Please don't feel bad on our behalf. Feel free to vent and worry on here. Like you say, if not here then where?

I'm just psyching myself up for my hysteroscopy tomorrow. The Hycosy scan I had hurt like hell so I'm a bit tentative. They told me it won't hurt but they said that about the Hycosy too. I think I have a rather reactive womb which goes into spasm at any "invasion". I had to go in twice (two attempts) to have my coil put in before all this TTC business as it was so painful.

Morning, sun has gone away in Scotland, hopefully not same where you all are. On couch expressing milk as LO isn't gaining weight- well why would I have expected things to be easy! Was just telling HV about my mcs - it is amazing how many people you come across (eg midwives) who don't know, despite presumably it being on your records.

It is interesting to hear the thoughts on donor eggs. I would personally have done that, my perspective being that I now have 2 dcs who bear NO resemblence to me at all, they are image of their father, and it's the growing of them and the nurturing once their born that binds me to them, not my genes.

Oops, rest of my post vanished.

Not meaning it's not a tough decision to make, just what I thought when I was weighing up adoption etc.
Havingkittens I really feel for you going for a procedure that you expect to be painful - bet they tell you to 'relax'! Would a valium be out of the question to take the edge off?

Kittens I didnt find the hysteroscopy hurt and normally I find smear tests painful so you might be OK. Make sure you take ibuprofen before you go in as I think that helped me. I was surprised how fast it was bearing in mind that private specialists charge so much for them! Good luck anyway. Thanks for understanding about my venting. Feeling anxious today for some reason, probably as DH has just told me he is going away for 2 weeks in July and I always seem to lose a pregnancy whilst he is away (thats if I get that far).

Iggi sun is behind clouds here but I am determined to keep my summer dress on! I remember the days of expressing - it takes forever.

My friend has got 2 egg donor babies and they both strangely look more like her than her DH - I don't know how that can be possible.

Duggs, ah how frustrating just when you think you've found that illusive answer, oh i know that feeling many times over. Hope Dr G can help you interpret and suggest a way forward. Like Sue said there are still lots of options of drugs you might not have tried yet. As for your question about what do we long timers do eventually, I just think I'll keep going for as long as I still feel there's a chance something might work, and if I get to the point where I 100% can't take any more then I'll stop. My problem is DH would keep going forever I think so I may want to stop before him, but we'll see. It'll be 5 yrs for us in Sept, and I def don't think I could do another 5 but you never know!

This is only my second round with Mr S, I'm wondering how long to give it before going to Dr G, those tests are expensive. Do you think its worth doing the full 6 months before trying elsewhere? I've got my scan with Mr S on friday.

Sue that's an amazing offer that your friend made to you about being a surrogate - how lovely just to know someone loves you that much to want to do that for you! Glad things are still going well for you and yes do vent away.

Kittens good luck for the hysteroscopy. I found it didn't hurt as much as hycosy because of the GA - are you going under GA too? Have people said to you already about the gas afterwards? It can take a few days to work its way out of your system and can get caught around the shoulder blades.

waves everyone else. x